Belated Christmas is Still Christmas!
by imjustpeachee
Summary: Mikey didn't forget Christmas. Honest! He just kinda...forgot where he put the presents


He was the worst. Hands down the WORST brother ever. It didn't matter that his brothers told him it all was ok. He. Was. The. WORST!

Mikey pouted sadly in the corner of the lair. The lingering smell of pine tickled his nose. But rather than remind him of the fun and warm memories of Christmas, it just reminded him that he, Michelangelo Hamato, had lost his family's Christmas presents.

It wasn't that he didn't have presents. He did! He just…didn't remember where he put them. Now before you get on his case, there was a perfectly good reason why he hid them. Having ninja brothers was awesome, except when it came to Christmas. Every year, it was the hardest challenge ever to keep the presents they had gotten each other a secret. And this year…well, Mikey found a hiding spot that was just a little _too_ good.

Mikey sighed again. Seriously. Where the heck did he **put** them?!

"Uhh Mikey?"

Mikey looked up to the ceiling. Donnie was hanging above the pipes, a welder in hand. With the pipes freezing over this past winter, repairs couldn't wait.

"Whadya want Don?"

"Um…well there is a bag up here. Says 'Super Secret Santa' and-"

"YOU FOUND THEM!"

Springing from his lonely seat on the couch, Mikey scaled the rickety ladder as Don wind milled at the top.

"MIKEY!"

"DON!"

Mikey hardly paid attention as his remaining older brothers rushed into the room. Donnie had found them! Launching over the last two rungs Mikey leapt over the pipes, snagging the bag full of goodies as he fell back to the ground.

"MIKEY!"

Mikey smiled as he heard Raph yeall his name. Aww what a big softie that hothead was. Flipping gracefully he proceeded to land perfectly. Right on top of said hothead.

"OOOF!"

"Hehe nice catch Raphie," Mikey grinned, looking at the flattened brother underneath him.

" _Get…offa…me!"_ Raph wheezed. Mikey smiled as he rolled off his brother, clutching his bag close. Standing, he maneuvered the oddly shaped bag to one arm as he helped a winded Raph to his feet. Dramatically, Mikey made a show of dusting the red-banded ninja off.

"Sorry Raph," he said with a grin that didn't really match the words. "I couldn't let Donnie ruin the Christmas surprise."

By this time, Leo and managed to get Donnie off the ladder with no aerial maneuvers. Cautiously the two made their way over to the others.

"Mikey," Leo said with a frown. "Christmas is over. And surprise or not, using Raph as a turtle trampoline is not safe."

"Believe me Leo, that was no trampoline," Mikey said. "That was like falling on a brick wall."

Raph huffed as he rolled his shoulders.

"Yeah, felt like a brick fell on me," Raph said, eyes narrowed. "Shoulda laid offa dose Christmas cookies tubby turtle."

Mikey gasped.

"I'll have you know that even if I ate _all_ the Christmas cookies, I could still run **laps** around _you_."

"C'mere ya little-"

"ACK!"

"Enough!"

Everyone froze as Master Splinter calmly entered the living room, pointedly ignoring the fact that Raph already had Mikey in a headlock.

"I assume with all this noise there is something going on beyond foolish antics?"

"Yeah Sensei!" came Mikey's muffled voice from behind Raph's massive bicep. "I found your Christmas presents!"

Raph rolled his eyes as he released his younger brother.

"Tehnically, I think _I_ found them Mikey," Donnie chuckled.

Leo sighed heavily.

"Does it matter at this point?"

Splinter smiled as his sons piled into the living room. Well, his oldest sons did. Mikey was happily bouncing from foot to foot, still holding the large bag in his arms.

"Well Michelangelo? It seems you have something you would like to get off your chest. Or perhaps your arms."

Mikey grinned widely as he placed the bag gently on the coffee table.

"Yeah! So you know how I didn't have presents for you guys this year. Well, I mean, I did. But yeah I couldn't find them. I was trying hard to hide them this year, and this time I got _way_ too good at hiding, and I couldn't find them no matter how hard I looked. So I was sitting around and-"

"Get on wit it knucklehead!"

Mikey glared at Raph.

"Long story short sensei, here are your guy's presents!"

Splinter smiled indulgently.

"Then by all means Michelangelo, please disperse them."

"You got it sensei!"

Mikey opened the top of the bag with gusto, shoving his head into the dark folds. After rustling around for a moment his head reemerged with a triumphant _Gotchya!_

In his hand was a brightly wrapped blue box, topped with an enormous bow. With a flourish, Mikey spun around and presented the box to his oldest brother on bent knee.

"For you my dearest Leonardo."

Leo apprehensively took the box.

"Uh thanks Mikey," he said with a hesitant smile. "The bow is um…"

"Festive?" Donnie shrugged.

Leo nodded eagerly.

"Yeah, festive."

Mikey grinned even wider.

"Just wait 'till you see what's _under_ that bow!"

Nervously Leo began to unwrap his present. Gently pulling the tape so that nothing tore, he slowly peeled open the sides of the wrapping paper. Mikey just about vibrated where he stood, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Geez Leo what are ya a surgeon?" Raph griped.

Leo shot a glare at the hothead but continued to open the package.

Finally, _finally_ he pulled back the last corner of the paper so that it all cam off in one clean piece. Removing the paper, Leo stared at his gift.

"Isn't it _genius?!_ " Mikey gushed.

Leo held up the box for group inspection and bravely put on a wavering smile.

Raph bust out laughing as he got a good look at the package.

"Ya got 'im one a dem Chia tings?" he guffawed.

Mikey glowed as he nodded eagerly.

"Yeah! I remember Leo said he wanted ta try his hand at raising a bonsai, but I couldn't find one that would work underground very well but then I saw this bad boy and all you have to do is put water on it! And it grows like hair so you still have ta trim it like a bonsai!"

Leo's wavering smile grew into a grin. It wasn't _exactly_ what he wanted, but his brother had really put thought into this gift, and of course he was going to make sure to water it every day. Even if it was in the shape of Scooby Doo.

"Thank you Mikey," Leo said as he gave Mikey a one armed hug. "I can't wait to see this grow!"

Mikey smiled and hugged Leo back.

"You're welcome bro! I knew you'd like it."

Raph's guffaws had died down to snickers at this point, so Mikey felt it was safe to move on. Diving back into the bag, he groped in the soft material until he found what he was looking for. Emerging once again, he brought forth his next gift.

"For you Donnie-boy!"

Raph snorted again as he saw the small ring box.

"Ya askin' ta marry im Mikey?" he snickered.

Mikey laughed.

"Even better bro."

Gently, Donnie removed the tiny purple bow on the box and flipped open the lid. Inside was…well, he didn't really know what it was.

"Dude, you have no idea how many comic tags I had to save to get that," Mikey said proudly. "Those decoder rings don't come cheap!"

Donnie looked up confused.

"Decoder ring Mikey?"

Mikey rushed to his brother's side eagerly.

"Yeah! See the little dial on the outside? You spin that around to decode stuff by matching up what letters are on the inner ring!"

Donnie nodded in vague understanding.

"Uh, cool Mikey. This is um…"

"I knew it would help cause you're always decoding stuff whenever we need ta get into the Purple Dragon's files or something."

Understanding bloomed across Donatello's face. While the ring would in no way actually help him crack the codes he worked with, the thought and care that went into Mikey's selection of his present made him feel warm.

Smiling at his younger brother Donnie nodded his agreement.

"Wow Mikey, this is perfect! Thank you so much!"

Mikey beamed.

"You're welcome Donnie! And now, on to our next gift!"

Again into the bag, Mikey pulled a rather awkwardly wrapped package. Blushing a bit, he handed it to Master Splinter.

"For you Sensei."

"Thank you my son."

Carefully the old rat split the paper. In one smooth rip, he tore off the top layer, revealing shockingly yellow material. Face blank with confusion; he pulled the items out of the wrapping paper. Looking closer at his gift, Splinter felt his face split into a grin. In his hands were two enormous slippers shaped into wedges of bright yellow cheese.

"You were saying how cold your feet were getting out here when you were watching your stories,"Mikey explained nervously. "And since you like cheese…I thought these would be a good idea."

Splinter motioned his youngest over to give him a hug.

"These are _perfect_ my son," he said warmly. "I am sure they will fend off the winter chill most effectively. Besides, I love cheddar."

Mikey smiled before turning to his last family member without a gift.

"Don't think I forgot about _you_ Raphie," he said.

"Don't call me Raphie," Raph grumbled.

With a smile, Mikey reached into the bag and brought out one last present. This one left practically nothing to the imagination. It was clearly in the shape of a dumbbell.

"For you, my favorite brick-wall brother."

Raph sighed as he began to tear the paper off his gift. At least his gift was normal. Weights were always a safe bet to get him for a present. Of course, Mikey's gifts were anything but safe.

"It's called a Shakeweight!"

Raph stared dumbfounded at the object in his hand. A few muffled snickers snapped his focus to Leo and Donnie, both valiantly trying to hide their mirth.

"Try it out Raphie! I hear it's really good for your biceps."

Raphael, bless his heart, gingerly gripped the Shakeweight and gave it a half-hearted shake.

A soft snort of amusement had Raph's face bloom into a forceful blush.

"Come now my son," Splinter said, barely suppressing his chuckle. "Surely you can do better than that?"

Raph grumbled and blushed as he gave the Shakeweight a hearty shake back and forth for a few seconds. Unable to hold back anymore, the others broke into loud bouts of laughter as Raph pouted on the couch.

Mikey giggled as Raph's bottom lip pouted out. No matter how much the hot head denied it, that pout was absolutely hysterical.

Leaning over the back of the couch, he nudged Raph.

"Don't worry Raph," he said indulgently. "Your real gift is right here."

Reaching into the bag one final time, Mikey produced a motorcycle helmet. But on the matte black finish were fire-red lines that traced over the dome of the helmet, leading to the visor in streaks of lightning.

Raph gaped as he was handed the helmet.

"Mike," he said quietly, running his hands over the designs.

"The Shakeweight was a joke," Mikey said. "Like you need any more weights bro…"

Raph looked up at his younger brother before his arm snaked out to snare Mikey in a crushing hug.

"Thanks man," Raph said.

Mikey hugged him back with a big smile. Standing up again, he turned to his family, each holding their gifts with smiles on their faces.

"Merry Christmas you guys!"


End file.
